War on the Docks:
Puget Sound’s Longshoremen in the 1934 Strike
After the events of “bBoody Thursday,” the ILA called a general strike in San Francisco. In Seattle, longshoremen moved to capture Smith Cove, a dock being protected by the city’s police force. On July
18th, Seattle’s
ILA members fought
their way through tear gas to oust the police from the cove, remove scab labor, and take control of the port.
“All of these cops had tear gas masks
on. They ran
us up into the trees as far as they could ride the horses. I lay up there half the
afternoon coughing
and trying to get rid of that tear gas. Made you sick as hell.”
—Burt
Nelson
Striking ILA
members take back Seattle’s
Smith Cove, July 18, 1934
SMITH COVE